Often, I have suggested the Gospel of John as the beginning point in any study of the Bible. It is a common misconception that the Bible is a book with chapters that details a story in chronological order. It is closer to the truth to describe the Bible as a collection of writing about the revelation of God. But what is God trying to reveal? His primary revelation is His plan of redemption. The necessity, the requirement, the accomplishment, and ultimately the completion of His plan to redeem mankind and creation is the central thread that ties the entire Bible together. This is why I suggest starting with the Gospel of John.
“John is setting the stage for his intended purpose.”
The writer of the Gospel of John identifies his purpose in Chapter 20, “…but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name (Joh 20:31, ESV).” This is the linchpin of God’s plan of redemption and everything that John writes is intended to support that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you will have life. But even John, not unlike the Bible as a whole, has to build to that idea.
In the prologue John is going to introduce some foundational concepts; ‘the Word’, ‘the life’, and ‘the light.’ He is setting the stage for his intended purpose.
The Word
The idea of ‘the Word’ is probably one of the most misunderstood because it is perhaps the most abused. As a result, there are a lot of ideas about ‘the Word’ that can mislead. There are those who hold that John borrowed the term from Greek philosophy. “In Stoic thought, logos was reason, the impersonal rational principle governing the universe. Stoics thought this principle pervaded the entire universe; indeed, they recognized no other god (logos was for them roughly equivalent to theos, “God”) (Köstenberger 2013, 40).” Some hold that the idea is the personification of wisdom as found in the Wisdom literature. “Wisdom, like John’s logos, claims preexistence and participation in God’s creative activity. Wisdom, like the logos, is depicted as a vehicle of God’s self-revelation, in creation as well as the Law (Köstenberger 2013, 41).” I do not hold to either of these positions.
“It is the glory of God to conceal things, but the glory of kings is to search things out.”
Proverbs 25:1
When we look at the other foundational concepts that John is introducing, we find that his understanding of each of these concept is built on a Hebraic understanding. Additionally, John’s purpose is to identify Jesus as ‘the Christ,’ a decidedly Hebraic title and concept. Why should we understand ‘the Word’ from a Greek understanding? Now, you can not argue that the wisdom literature is not Hebraic. The problem I have with associating ‘the Word’ with the personification of wisdom is that the Wisdom Literature is clear, wisdom is not enough for salvation. There is no thought, there is no idea, there is no secret understanding that can save you. Your salvation comes from Christ’s atoning work on the cross. No ‘the Word’ must be more than wisdom personified. “For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe (1Co 1:21).”
The Word is God’s plan for your redemption and the redemption of all creation. It is what was alluded to but kept hidden in the Old Testament and that which is revealed in the New Testament. Proverbs reads, “it is the glory of God to conceal things, but the glory of kings is to search things out (Pro 25:1).” When we go to the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament, we find that the Greek word logos is translated into English things in this proverb. Put another way, “it is the glory of God to conceal ‘the Word’, but the glory of kings is to search ‘the Word’ out.”
John is saying that this thing that we need, that all creation needs, is ‘the Word’. And by describing ‘the Word’ as present in the beginning, with God, as being God, he is assigning Hebraic attributes to ‘the Word’ that could only belong to God. It is John’s first allusion that ‘the Christ’ was God. Proverbs might have well been saying, “it is the glory of God to conceal ‘the Christ’, but the glory of kings is to search ‘the Christ’ out” and because John’s purpose is to identify Jesus as ‘the Christ’ the Proverb becomes, “it is the glory of God to conceal Jesus, but the glory of kings is to search Jesus out.”
The Life
It is hard to understand life without death. We are surrounded by death and each of us has an appointment with death. I know, we like to isolate ourselves and pretend it is not there, but you cannot escape it. However, it is in our connection to the death of Jesus that He becomes life for us. A.W. Tozer says it best, “…in Jesus Christ Himself, we became part of Him and He became part of us and took us up into Himself so that in one sense, when He died, as Paul said, we all died. Instead of the law putting one man to death for all, He put all men to death and raised from the dead all who believe in Jesus Christ, so that every man dies for his sins. The sinner dies alone and the Christian dies in Christ. But every man dies for his sins. He either dies by joining his heart to Jesus Christ, and is tucked up under the wings of Jesus and dies in the body of Christ, or else he dies alone in his sins (Tozer 2009, 181).” By introducing the idea of ‘the Life’ John is beginning to connect ‘the Christ’ to the Hebraic understanding of a resurrection. “By the time of the New Testament, belief in immortality and some form of resurrection seems to have been accepted by most Jewish groups (except the Sadducees) and the average Jews (Scott 1995, 281).” They were looking forward to a resurrection and John is alluding to that expectation.
Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die (Joh 11:25-26).” I’ll let A.W. Tozer conclude this section, “if we had died alone and in ourselves there would have been no resurrection into eternal life. But because we died in Him and with Him, there is a resurrection unto eternal life and the new birth and glory to come (Tozer 2009, 182).”
The Light
Going back to proverbs and those things that God has hidden that it is our glory to search out. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a search light as we search those things out? Sometimes I imagine the Old Testament as a cave and often it feels as if I am feeling around in the dark as I read from the Old Testament. But God has provided a light! How are we to understand the Old Testament and God’s plan of redemption? Through the lens and the light of Jesus. Adam Clarke, quoting Mr. Wakefield explains, “Even in the midst of that darkness of ignorance and idolatry which overspread the world, this light of Divine wisdom was not totally eclipsed (Clarke 1810-1826, 512).” If you desire to see how you have been redeemed, you need to look to Jesus; you need to understand by the light of Jesus’ teachings. “Again, Jesus spoke to them, saying, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life (Joh 8:12).’”
“I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.”
John 11:25-26
I have no doubt that John is preaching primarily to a Jewish reader. He assumes some things about his reader that only a Jew would understand apart from an explanation. But do not worry, those understandings have not been lost to time and culture and you can understand them to. The Gospel of John has been handed down to us so that we can understand what it is that God has done for us. When we understand we become able to explain and give our own reasons for the hope that we have in Christ (1Pe 3:15). We then become lights for Him (Eph 5:8).
Thanks for reading and do not forget to subscribe to my e-mail below. I am working on some great things and I would hate for you to miss out. Watch for an upcoming blog in which I introduce John the Baptist, the Christ, Elijah, and the Prophet.
Image by Sang Valte from Pixabay
Clarke, Adam. Adam Clarke’s Commentary On The Bible. Public Domain, 1810-1826.
Köstenberger, Andreas J. Encountering John: The Gospel in Historical, Leterary, and Theological Perspective. Edited by Walter A. Elwell. Grand rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2013.
Scott, J. Julius. Jewish Backgrounds Of The New Testament. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 1995.
Tozer, A. W. And He Dwelt among Us: Teachings from the Gospel of John. Edited by James L. Snyder. Ventura, CA: Regal, 2009.
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